XplanaZine

Here’s a summary of ideas and conversations from the edublogging community that have captured our attention in the past 48 hours.

George Siemens posts this 10-minute podcast –
href=”http://odeo.com/a/l05hNuHu36d68eZjtx8Q4ig4XaV052uH3EUxg0Hk” target=”_blank”>Restructuring our Structures. “Essentially, two changes are driving everything: 1) the breakdown of centralized
structures (and move toward network models), and 2) the increased capacity for
“quick connectivity” - i.e. the ability to for connections with ease.” In a related post, Clarence Fisher asks if perhaps we shouldn’t focus more on where (environment) we are learning than how (process). “But schools and classrooms are not structured to best support that learning. We
need to understand how learning happens, but mostly we need to deeply re -
examine the environments we create in classrooms and begin there.”

Ben Vershbow gives us his take on Pulse, a “networked book” from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. “Taking the book for a spin in cyberspace — attracting readers, generating buzz, injecting it into the conversation — is not at all a bad idea, especially in these
href=”http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2006/04/the_age_of_amphibians.html” target=”_blank”>transitional times when we are continually shifting back and forth between on and offline reading.”

Also, Wesley Fryer has a posted a nice discussion of the online composition-grading tool in use at Texas Tech University — Topic. This is an online tool designed to provide standardized and consistent feedback, and to make composition classes more efficient and, thus, allow students more time to actually write. Having taught composition fro many years, i have worked with several similar programs and approaches. What I like about Topic is a hybrid approach of technology and people. I also like the emphasis on having students write more and listen to instructors less.

Finally, David Warlick has begun formalizing his work on Telling New Stories in education. His latest post puts forth three types of stories and some basic descriptions for each. Vicki Davis picks up on David’s post and talks about the importance of stories over simple facts and the need to make our stories understandable to others.